Comic #3188: 2014-02-08

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Description

Comic Description

Panel 1:
Setting: Two characters lie on a grassy patch at night, under a starry sky.
Character A (with curly hair, wearing a pink shirt): "You know the Star Trek problem? The one where if you’re obliterated but then reassembled, 'you are still dead,' even though there's an exact duplicate of you."
Character B (with dark hair, wearing a purple shirt): "Yeah."

Panel 2:
Character A: "Well, to me, that means it’s unethical to put someone in the teleporter because you're killing them."
Character B: "Sure."

Panel 3:
Character A: "But what if you put something in the teleporter that isn’t aware of its existence? Like, it’s probably unethical to up and kill a million mice for no reason. But is it unethical to run the teleporter on the 'same' mouse a million times?"

Panel 4:
Character A continues: "Or say a lady was in labor, and the baby was stuck, and you could teleport it out. Would that be unethical?"
Character B responds, thoughtful: "I mean, technically, you’ve still got the teleporter problem, but the baby won’t remember."

Panel 5:
Character A: "And what really weirds me out is teleporting the baby seems fine to me if you do it fast—like, there’s only a discontinuity in space, not time. But if you obliterate the baby, then reassemble it a year later, that seems more questionable somehow."

Panel 6:
Visuals depict a view of the starry sky with two small figures (presumably the characters) visible in the foreground.

Panel 7:
Character B: "I’m pretty sure this is the kind of stuff you get all figured out by the time you’re a grownup."
Character A: "Well, obviously."

This comic explores philosophical questions related to identity and ethics through a humorous dialogue between two characters.